Synopsis

After directing over a dozen short films, French filmmaker Tristan Convert directed his first feature, SCRATCH an original horror film. Shot in Los Angeles in August 2015 entirely on iPhones by a skeleton crew, SCRATCH tells the story of two would-be filmmakers who decide to shoot a music video for a local nu metal band on an iPhone. The film is in post-production, for which Tristan is launching a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo.

Two wannabe filmmakers shoot a music video for a metal band, guerilla-style with iPhones strapped on their heads, in the restricted old L.A. zoo, among empty cages. One by one, the cast and crew disappear, and when they reappear, they are naked, wild, craving sex and food. They’re not evil, but if they see you and they SCRATCH you, you become one of them.

“SCRATCH is metatheater. It’s also an update on classic found footage films like The Blair Witch Project. It’s a “found phone” feature. Cinema vérité-style. The audience will see what the filmmakers’ crew in the movie is shooting from the Point-Of-View of their iPhones. The point of view will be intimate and close to the characters like a phone, swirling, falling, selfie-ing.” Convert says.

SCRATCH is co-written by Tristan Convert and Akilah Green and produced by Tristan Convert, Akilah Green, and Sébastien Bizeul. It stars Danièle Watts (known for Django Unchained) and Katarina Leigh Waters (Feminine World Wrestling Champion).

Shooting a scene through a character’s POV

Convert created SCRATCH with the idea of a very light crew, very light setup, and very simple plot. Throughout the film, one by one, the members of the cast and crew are scratched by an infected person, which causes them to become infected and transform into their primal, savage selves craving their basic instincts. SCRATCH is a classic contagion story, e.g., the werewolf myth; however, the infected persons are not zombies. In fact, the savages are not evil at all. They simply crave sex and food. However, they lack the ability to control their impulses, and therein lies the conflict.

“At its core, SCRATCH is about our struggle to contain the beast within.”

SCRATCH explores key themes like: What differentiates us from animals? And what does it mean to be truly free?